SNOW Patrol guitar star Nathan Connolly says life at the top can sometimes be snow fun.

Speaking to the Sunday Mercury ahead of the chart-topping band’s big Birmingham gig, he complains that the group has been misjudged.

The Chasing Cars band were once dubbed the “most boring band in Britain” by rivals Manic Street Preachers.

“I’m not going to say I don’t care about the criticism,” says Nathan. “Of course, it can hurt.

“We’re only human and it’s not a nice thing to hear. What you have to do is learn to ignore the jibes. We’ve put out a good record, and I’m happy with life so I don’t spend time mulling over what has been said.

“But I do think that we have been misjudged.”

During their career, Snow Patrol have won five Meteor Ireland Music Awards and been nominated for three Brits. Hits such as Chasing Cars and Run have been big hits worldwide.

And although their recent singles have failed to dent the Top 10, the band’s Fallen Empires set got to No.3 in the album chart after it was released in November last year.

They aren’t mentioned in this year’s Brit Awards shortlist – but that doesn’t bother Nathan.

Care

“I don’t really care about awards,” he explains. “If we’re nominated, then that’s great. I’ve not really paid much attention to this year’s Brits, although I see that Ed Sheeran is up for a few. He’s supporting us on our tour.

“I hope Elbow win. They’re great mates of ours and they have a great record. I also think Kasabian’s album was very good.”

Nathan is about to celebrate his tenth year in the band, but says time has flown by.

“It only feels like I’ve been doing it for four years,” he says. “Of course, we have our ups and downs. We’re all very close and we spend more time with each other than with our families.

“I see the guys more than my girlfriend. We have disagreements sometimes, but who doesn’t?”

For now, the band are concentrating on their tour, which kicked off in Dublin on Friday with a setlist containing tracks from Fallen Empires alongside hits and fan favourites.

“I can’t reveal too much about it,” smiles Nathan. “You’ll just have to wait and see. But we’ve been working hard. We’ve got a cool set but it’s still a rock show. That’s what it will always be.”